New data from Island Health shows that just over 40 per cent of Vancouver Islanders and those within the Island Health region have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The data, which includes vaccinations administered up to and including May 2, shows that 40.7 per cent of eligible people received their first jab, while just 1.8 per cent received their second.
That’s similar to the rate of vaccination in other health authorities like Fraser Health (41.7 per cent), Northern Health (40.5 per cent), and Interior Health (40.2 per cent) while Vancouver Coastal is slightly behind with 38.5 per cent of its eligible population vaccinated.
Island Health also released data showing a breakdown of vaccination rates by age cohort.
Unsurprisingly, the highest rates of vaccinations are seen in the age cohorts that kicked off the age-based system in early March, with 89 per cent of those 90 and older having received their first dose.
The update comes as B.C. health officials push to get more eligible British Columbians to register to receive a vaccine as it gets set to receive nearly 1.2-million doses of vaccines in May.
Health Minister Adrian Dix has said the 2.1-million registrations on the province’s “Get Vaccinated” website is not bad, but more people need to sign up.
“I would say we need to do better,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said Monday.
“We need people to register. We’re booking clinics and filling our clinics every week. Up to now it hasn’t been an issue because we’ve had a limited amount of vaccine. But in the coming weeks we’re going to need more and more people to register.”
As of Tuesday, the government was booking vaccinations for those aged 53 and up, while anyone over the age of 18 can register to book their appointment in the coming weeks.
With files from CHEK News’ Rob Shaw.
Jeff Lawrence
